10. RESULTS

Alfie tried to convince himself that he must've done well in some of the tests at least. He hoped that he wasn't a complete embarrassment but the more he thought about it, the more he doubted himself. The first test in the dojo was a complete failure since he quit within a mere few seconds in, that was hardly agent-worthy, was it? Second test was okay, though he'd been interrogating himself on whether he'd gotten the questions right all day since he sat the examination. He was slightly confused about the whole chicken thing so he wasn't sure whether he passed that one or not.

This had been a continued cycle of thoughts since he had re-entered the chairwoman's office. While he waited for the woman, sat in front of the desk, he couldn't stop the pestering thoughts and doubts that tightened an uncomfortable knot in his stomach from nerves.

He really did want to stay in CHERUB; the campus was amazing and far better than Bowden House ever could be despite being newly built. He liked the idea of being able to do some form of good in his life rather than just spending his ever shortening days as a teenager moping around in a care home with no actual real goals to give him some motivation. The thought was enough to tighten the knot even further; he couldn't stand the thought of that life. If only he wasn't afraid of heights, if only he could see underwater, if only he was fit enough to fight like –

The sound of the door opening and closing interrupted his thoughts and Zara walked in, sitting behind her desk with a file. Alfie looked awkwardly down at his hands. "I didn't pass, did I?"

The chairwoman raised an eyebrow. "What gave you that idea?"

"Normally when someone leaves you waiting before talking to you, it means that they're going to give you some bad news – my last headteacher used that tactic," Alfie said. "Plus I'm pretty sure I did terrible in the majority of those tasks you gave me."

"Well, you did fine in the first task," the woman quickly continued before Alfie could protest. "I'd be very surprised if you ended up taking down Caitlyn considering she's a black belt and you've never been in a real fight before. The main thing was that you realised that you had no chance of even getting a look in."

Alfie furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't understand."

"Willing to get yourself seriously injured because of your pride is something that is not tolerated here at CHERUB. The fact that you accepted defeat instead of trying to continue an otherwise, what-would-be, a hopeless fight proves that you have enough sense to not think that way. So in turn, you passed the test," it was a confusing explanation but he understood it. "How do you think you did on the intelligence test?"

He shrugged. "The last exam I did was my Key Stage Two SATS last year so I didn't think I'd do very well on it."

"I think you doubt yourself too much, Alfie. Your verbal and mathematical scores were both above average, with the maths being lower than the verbal," she explained. "But overall, your total score was considerably high despite having such a negative mindset at the time. You should be proud."

"What about the chicken? Or the obstacle?" he asked. "I only made it through the course because they were pushing and encouraging me to."

Zara smiled. "But we didn't force you onto the obstacle, did we?" she said. "We would've understood if you missed that task out because of your fear, but you completed it anyway. Willow and April merely made sure that you wouldn't give up after getting so far in by using techniques to convince you to continue. Willingly facing your fear shows that you have a desire to succeed. Your fear of heights still needs to be worked on, but it's a start. And as for the chicken, you made your choice and killed it, so you passed."

"But what's killing a chicken supposed to accomplish? What happens if I didn't kill it?"

"You could've passed this trial in two ways, by not hesitating and killing the chicken when I said is one way. Another would be for you to say you opposed to killing and eating animals before leaving the chicken alone," she continued. "It was a test of moral courage and judgement. A way to make sure that you made up your own mind rather than let someone else do it for you."

Alfie thought for a moment. "So, I'm guessing that if I hadn't made up my mind, you would've tried to sway me towards a certain direction?"

"Yep and you would've failed if you'd listened. And lastly the swimming task, I take it that you can't open your eyes and see underwater?"

Alfie shook his head. "Not without goggles, it's always been a problem. I can swim fine but when it comes to opening my eyes, it's like some kind of mental block. It's why it took me longer to swim back to the edge because I couldn't find the brick."

"That can always be something you can work on but it did but a dampener on your score on the last task however I do believe that overall you did a great job and I would happily like to offer you a place at CHERUB," Alfie stared at her with wide eyes as she continued. "You'll have a total of two days to make up your mind when we send you back to Bowden House."

~oOo~

Thankfully, Alfie was allowed to borrow some jeans and a plain T-shirt instead of the pyjamas he was brought in. He changed into them before being shut in the back of a van for what seemed like the majority of the way back to Bowden House. He was also thankful for the fact that these clothes weren't damp like the other ones from where he'd jumped into the swimming pool fully clothed. It would've been likely that he'd catch a chill considering it was the dead of night when they left.

Eventually, what seemed like a few hours, the woman driving the van dropped him off at some petrol station on the outskirts of London and ordered him a cab home. The van disappeared as soon as the cab arrived, turning left out of the station and disappearing into the darkness of night.

He guessed it was around two in the morning when the cab dropped him off just up the road from Bowden House. Alfie walked the rest of the way, getting frightened by a stray black cat that had been lingering in a nearby alleyway before finally ringing the doorbell of the home. It was Kate that answered.

She hurried down the hallway dressed in a purple dressing-gown and slippers and had a mix of relief and anger etched onto her features as she practically dragged Alfie inside. "Where the hell have you been?" Kate snapped in a firm whispered tone, locking the door. "You've been gone for almost over twenty hours. I was so close to calling the police!"

Alfie took it from that reaction that Kate wasn't the one who sent him to CHERUB so he quickly racked his brain for a quick response. There is no way in the world that Kate would believe that he was taken by a section of the British Intelligence that trained kids as spies and she didn't think that CHERUB would be too happy if he did.

"I went back to my old home..." he said. "Took a bus over, lost track of time...and missed the last bus here. I'm sorry."

He hated lying to Kate since all he'd done since Alfie had arrived here was be kind to him. He saw Kate's eyes soften slightly and hated himself. "We'll talk about this more in the morning. Get some sleep, okay?"

Alfie nodded and took a slow stroll back to his room at the end of the corridor. Without bothering to get changed, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep.

~oOo~

Despite going to bed so late, he was surprised to be awake so early. His head was aching slightly as he rubbed his eyes of sleep and decided to head downstairs to Kate's office. He knew he was going to be in trouble for his disappearance act yesterday so he might as well get the punishment over and done with.

Alfie had already decided that he was going to move to CHERUB campus but wasn't quite sure who he was supposed to talk to about it. If he left Bowden House, it was one less kid Kate had to deal with. But then he thought about Harry, who was snoring soundly in his bed as the first rays of sun breached through their bedroom windows. Could he leave Harry? He had been one of his best friends these past days. What would he think if he just upped and left?

But he'd have a room all to himself again and he had Macie, Madie and Jolie so he won't be alone. Heck, he probably wouldn't even miss Alfie when he's gone. Even with that thought, he was still conflicted about the problem as he knocked on Kate's office door.

"Come in." said a voice that belonged to none other than Sarah. The woman who he was supposed to meet with for another counselling session yesterday before he was drugged and sent to CHERUB campus.

"Where's Kate?" he asked, stepping into the room.

"She's gone to the shop to get some more milk for our tea, we've ran out unfortunately," Sarah explained but gestured to the seat in front of her. "But you can wait for her here. She probably won't be a minute."

"Thanks." he replied before letting out a sigh.

Sarah tilted her head to the side. "Something wrong?"

"I just feel bad for disappearing like that yesterday and not being able to say anything about it. I don't want Kate to get worried, she looked really frantic last night," Alfie rubbed his eyes again. "She's done so much for me these past days and this is how I repay her..."

"Well," Sarah began. "It's partially my fault so don't take all the blame."

Alfie blinked. "What?"

"I'm guessing from your reaction that they didn't tell you that I was one of the ones who recommended you for CHERUB?"

Alfie couldn't believe it, yet it made sense. Sarah had access to all his information from the counselling sessions, she somehow knew he could speak German and actually talk to him in the language. "You drugged me when I was asleep."

"I'm afraid so, I never actually like doing it but it's a precaution. I hope you're going to accept the offer though...all the kids I recommended so far ended up becoming excellent agents and I'm hoping that I can add you to the list," she explained. "Joining CHERUB was one of the best things I ever did, after my parents died in 2000, they gave and offered me some great opportunities that I would've never had gotten anywhere else."

Alfie guessed that Sarah must have been connected to CHERUB somehow if she knew of their existence and they took recommendations from her so this piece of information didn't surprise him. "I want to accept but what about Harry?"

A smile stretched itself across Sarah's lips. "Well I suppose he'll be going with you."

Alfie's mouth dropped open. "He was recruited to? I didn't see him there-"

"He's already an agent, sent here on a recruitment mission as a form of punishment," the woman continued, resting her head on her hands. "He was also the other person who recommended you to CHERUB. I don't know why they still send their agents to places where I'm at – bit of a waste of time if you ask me, I took this job as a way to pick up potential recruits after I left CHERUB."

"Wow," Alfie pondered. "Harry must be one hell of a good agent, I didn't suspect a thing."

"Yes I suppose he is when he isn't in trouble," Sarah chuckled. "So have you come up with your decision? I'm the one who's supposed to call up CHERUB when I've received your reply."

"I'm gonna go for it."

Sarah cracked a grin. "Excellent, that's a very wise choice."

"But I still don't understand one thing. Of all the people here, why me?"

"Why not you?"

Alfie paused for a moment. "I stole that computer component from that storage cupboard at Osborn. That's hardly something an agent would do."

"One kid I recommended to CHERUB was arrested before he was sent to campus and he ended up being one of their best agents so that's not really a negative aspect. It proves you have a thirst for trouble...something, I know, CHERUB values very much," she told Alfie. "Besides, you shouldn't doubt yourself. I don't want the last person I recommend to them to be held back from their potential because of themselves."

"The last person?"

"I've been working for Camden Council for too long," Sarah cracked a smile. "I think I might like a change of scene."

"I guess they'll be sad to see you go."

Sarah scoffed. "Unlikely, anyway I'll tell CHERUB your answer and they'll inform you what time they'll pick you up from here."